“We would like to thank Greg Schiano and his entire family for their commitment to Rutgers and helping build our football program,” stated Pernetti. “The Rutgers Football program is stronger than it has ever been and is built to last. Our program will never sacrifice its core values of family, integrity, trust and the balance between academics and athletics. This is an attractive job in a BCS conference in the nation’s largest media market. We are excited to find a new coach to lead our program.”

Prunetti said things moved very quickly between Schiano and the Buccaneers and he only became aware of the talks within the past 48 hours.

He says that he already has some replacements in mind but would not name names.

“Any AD worth whatever his university pays has a list in his pocket at all times. In my mind, and I think in a lot of people’s minds affiliated with Rutgers, I think the hope and expectation was that we would be able to keep Coach Schiano in here for a long time. At any moment, that can change and I’ve been ready for this moment since the day I walked on this campus so we have been ready.”

Prunetti realizes that the timing of Schiano’s departure is bad with National Signing Day next week. For Rutgers recruits he had this message. “I think the message will be that the program that you committed to, if they are committed, or the program you are considering, is the same program that it was two days ago. It is going to stand for the same things. The core values are things that are never going to be sacrificed. We are still going to rely on our players and our student-athletes in the program in hopes that the student-athletes and recruits to look at us and say, ‘this is the right or wrong kind of person to have at Rutgers.’ We are going to continue to all the things that we have done that have made it what it is today.

Bucs general manager Mark Dominik confirmed the five-year contract Thursday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

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ESPN first reported the Bucs had hired Schiano.

The 45-year-old Schiano had been with the Scarlet Knights for 11 seasons, taking them from college football laughingstock to a program that has had winning records in six of the last seven years. He was an assistant coach in the NFL with Chicago from 1996-98.

The Bucs fired Raheem Morris on Jan. 2 after a 4-12 finish that included 10 straight losses to end the season.

Schiano Departure Places Rutgers in Bind

Greg Schiano came to Rutgers when the football program was in a state of disarray — then left it in a bind.

Less than a week before Rutgers was expected to lock up a highly touted recruiting class, Schiano accepted an offer to become coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Thursday.

There is, however, no doubt Schiano leaves Rutgers football in far better shape than he found it when he was hired to coach the Scarlet Knights in 2000. The New Jersey native had six winning seasons in the last seven years, and was 5-1 in bowl games. Rutgers had been to one bowl game before he arrived.

• 2006 Eddie Robinson/FWAA National Coach of the Year
• 2006 The Home Depot National Coach of the Year
• 2006 Walter Camp Football Foundation National Coach of the Year
• 2006 Liberty Mutual National Coach of the Year
• 2006 George Munger (Maxwell Club) National Coach of the Year
• 2006 American Football Monthly National Coach of the Year
• 2006 BIG EAST Coach of the Year

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